COLUMBIA, S.C. — Driving around town in the South Carolina Midlands, you've likely noticed all the work zones, orange traffic cones and signs.
These work areas include the resurfacing of Millwood Avenue and Garners Ferry Road, work on Leesburg Road, and, of course, the Carolina Crossroads Project.
New19 spoke with Jacob Garmon, the safety director of Carolinas AGC, a commercial construction trade association providing resources to North and South Carolina construction workers.
Garmon said that their members meet quarterly for safety committee meetings. He added that South Carolina contractors follow a combination of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety regulations and South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) highway project rules.
"In construction, it can be a dangerous industry," Jacob Garmon said. "A lot of times, we’re working at heights, with highways; we’re working a few feet within traffic traveling upwards of 80 mph. So with that, there’s a lot of regulation for safety."
"There’s a lot of moving parts in construction, so with safety we try to have a hand in every part to make sure we’re doing that safely," he added. "Within the past two years, at most, is a very big rise in our near misses and our fatal accidents happening in our work zones."
He said they took a survey of their South Carolina highway contractors that was just released in May.
"Of those 77% of our South Carolina contractors, they reported at least one crash in a work zone that they were covering in the past year involving a motor vehicle," Garmon said. "And of that, 62% of those have experienced five or more crashes."
According to Garmon, this data collected from 21 different companies points to distracted and impaired driving causing these crashes. He said that's why drivers need to slow down, read the signs and be aware of their surroundings before entering a work zone.
"I know it’s coming into the summer months, the July 4th holiday, tons of traffic’s going to be out there on the road, and there’s still a lot of job sites on the road in South Carolina," he said. "So, we’re going to work together. We’ll get through this, but it starts with just paying attention, slowing down and just being aware of what you’re doing."
Garmon said he and his team have been pushing for legislation in 2024 to promote safer work zones.
According to the State House website, Governor Henry McMaster just signed a law requiring all people getting their driver's licenses to complete a work zone safety course.
